Accelerating Accessibility in Recruitment, with Kirsty, B-Radical

We caught up with Kirsty Palmer, Co-Founder and Director of Early Careers at B-Radical, to find out more about their work and in the importance of providing inclusive recruitment and workplaces.

1. Could you please tell me a bit about yourself and your role at B-Radical? 

Late last year I was approached by 2 inspirational women who asked if I wanted to partner with them on a new business venture that aimed to make the UK a fairer place to live and work.  Fast forward 9 months and lots of grey hair later and I’m now the Director of Early Careers at B-Radical. 

B-Radical is a trusted diversity training and recruitment advisory and consultancy partner that helps businesses to do something about EDI, as opposed to just talking about it.  We are a female founded business with big ambitions to achieve B-Corp status and we exist to fund the continued success of our sister charity Radical Recruit.

Before setting up B-Radical, I spent 20 years working in the charity sector primarily focused on providing support and guidance for blind and partially sighted people. I was diagnosed with a degenerative condition whilst at primary school and continue to gradually lose my sight. I’ve always been stubborn so refused to go to a specialist school and was one of the first blind children to be educated in a mainstream environment. Back then, it was a daily battle to access the same life chances as my peers and although the world has moved on in leaps and bounds in terms of the technology that aids independence, disabled people are still overlooked when it comes to employment.

I’ve brought up two children as a sole parent, I don’t have a degree and I’m from a working-class background so I spent many years feeling grateful to have a job. Now, through B-Radical, I have a unique opportunity to represent others like me, who are under recognised in the labour market and to work alongside businesses who are committed to getting diversity right and want help to take action that creates a level playing field for people with minoritized identities.

2. What is your mission at B-Radical?

Our mission is to help businesses – big and small – to turn their diversity, Corporate Social Responsibility and ‘Environmental Social and Governance’ rhetoric into meaningful action by levelling the playing field for Radical people and communities.

3. Why should businesses want to provide inclusive recruitment and workplaces?

Aside from being the right thing to do, there are so many benefits to creating an inclusive workforce including increased creativity and innovation, faster problem-solving and decision-making.  When businesses reflect the communities they serve they profit from higher staff retention rates and employee engagement.  What’s not to love??

4. Why are you launching your new service Accelerating Accessibility? 

I started my career as an Employment Advisor for blind and partially sighted people and met some incredibly talented humans who just couldn’t access the opportunities they deserved because businesses were too afraid of getting it wrong and failing the disabled person.  When Holly, Emma and I founded B-Radical we created a platform for change.

I met Jim Benstead who has 20 years experience providing workplace needs assessments and who shared our passion to find solutions to the barriers disabled people face when starting work.  Together, we consulted our disabled Radicals and employers and identified 3 key areas where we think we can really make a difference.   Accellerating Accessibility offers consultancy, workplace needs assessments and implementation support that will enable disabled people to start well in their chosen careers and thrive in the workplace.

5. How will Accelerating Accessibility help ensure disabled recruits and existing colleagues get the support they need? 

Many disabled people have experienced trauma in the workplace because their employers were not equipped with the help and support they needed to create a welcoming and inclusive environment  that met their needs.  Our disabled Radicals told us that they wouldn’t consider applying to an organisation if they didn’t feel welcome from the start.  Our expert consultants will carry out a review of the end-to-end recruitment process for businesses keen to engage more disabled talent.  We are proud to partner with Recite Me as the accessibility of websites and ATS systems is crucial to the recruitment process

We’ll provide quality workplace needs assessments and reports that recommend the equipment and support a disabled person needs to do their job.  Currently, the wait for a free assessment through Access to Work is 20+ weeks which is totally disempowering and unacceptable.  Our aim is to undertake the assessment and provide the report and recommendations within 10working days so that disabled candidates can get stuck in and showcase their talents from the start.

One in 8 disabled people wait over 1 year for their reasonable adjustments to be implemented.  This is usually because employers don’t have policies and processes in place to make this happen.  We’ll provide implementation support to the employer to ensure equipment and support is implemented swiftly and effectively so that everyone feels supported and has what they need to get the results they want.

Visit B-Radical’s website to learn more about their work and their Accelerating Accessibility service.